Preventing litter by sharing knowledge

We have welcomed the launch today of Zero Waste Scotland’s Litter Knowledge Network which aims to support everyone working to tackle litter.

The online resource brings together the latest advice, expertise and support on litter prevention, including in-depth research on scale, impact and attitudes to litter.

As a charity which works with local authorities, businesses and communities across Scotland to tackle litter and littering behaviour, we look forward to contributing to the new knowledge network with information, ideas, and good practice we have learnt over the past 50 years.

Carole Noble, Operations Director at Keep Scotland Beautiful, commented: “Keep Scotland Beautiful has identified that, for the first time in ten years, Scotland’s local environmental quality is in decline. Carelessly discarded litter is a substantial part of that problem, but urgent action is also required to address growing problems with dog-fouling and graffiti .

“In the past two months alone, Keep Scotland Beautiful has supported more than 23,000 people, through our Clean Up Scotland campaign, to take action to remove litter from their local communities - a positive step by people who care about their local environment. However, littering behaviour is an individual manifestation of the disregard of those who just don’t care about our parks, countrysides, roadsides or seas.

“If we are to turn the tide on this shocking decline, we need action to be prioritised. In that context, we welcome this resource, and all efforts to bring about the significant behaviour change required to make Scotland litter free.”

Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Roseanna Cunningham said: “We want to protect and preserve the beauty of Scotland for all who live and visit here.

“The Scottish Government has made prevention of litter and flytipping the cornerstone of Scotland’s national litter strategy, Towards a Litter-Free Scotland, and this new resource should be valuable to all stakeholders in helping tackle the problem.

“I encourage all those with a role in tackling litter to visit the Zero Waste Scotland website, and engage with the network where they can reap the benefits of the expertise and advice on offer.”

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland, said:

“Our Litter Knowledge Network provides fantastic new tools to help stakeholders in Scotland take forward a preventative approach towards litter and flytipping. It includes great case studies on what works and what doesn’t – a really useful body of practical and well-tested work, backed up by evidence. This evidence shows that simply cleaning up litter after it’s been dropped is an endless task, as the issue still affects many of our communities and it’s costing Scotland over £1million a week.

“Local authorities, businesses and landowners have a real opportunity now to adopt a different approach to litter, tailored to suit their own local circumstances – by focusing on preventative action which will save time and money. With the launch of our new Litter Knowledge Network, Zero Waste Scotland is there to help and support this work.